The Portimão Global Ocean Race fleet are now 300 miles north-west of the mandatory Leg 3 southern limit’s western extremity: a line of latitude at 45°S stretching for almost 4,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean, preventing the 40ft boats from straying too far south into the huge seas and brutal winds in the high latitudes of the Southern Ocean. Weather models predict that the first Pacific low pressure system the fleet will encounter should roll eastwards south of the boats, but nonetheless, the entire game has changed significantly in the past 24 hours.
The chase is now on as the Portimão Global Ocean Race fleet begin to compress in their approach to the western limit of the mandatory Southern Ocean exclusion zone. Felipe Cubillos and José Muñoz are leading the double-handed class on Desafio Cabo de Hornos, taking the overall fleet pole position from single-handed entry, Michel Kleinjans, on Roaring Forty in the latest 1520 GMT (26/02) position poll.
“After five full days at sea, I’m finally finding some rhythm,” confirmed Kleinjans earlier today. “At present, I have 20 knots of wind from the west which is significantly more than the weather files predicted. It’s good to have some breeze, but when the meteo information is not correct, your game plan then becomes flawed.” Currently, Roaring Forty is just two miles off the starboard quarter of the race leader, Desafio Cabo de Hornos. “At present, I’m sailing with all the available downwind canvas set: large spinnaker and full mainsail,” continues the Belgian solo sailor. “However, pretty soon I’ll be on the limit of this configuration and will change down to something smaller. Possibly a smaller spinnaker and one reef in the main to keep the bow up.” With his speed averages dropping from 10.6 knots to 8.6 knots over the past six hours, it is likely that he has already reduced sail.